Shawn Olson

Art was always around me growing up. My father Donald Olson was a multi-talented wildlife artist whose skills and insight greatly influenced me over the years. Dad was a beautiful man full of love and compassion--and I try to share with my family, friends and fellows the joy of nature he shared with me for decades. My other great influences have been John Dewey, Thomas Jefferson, Carl Sagan, Bruce Lee and Michael Jordan.

I've spent most of my adult life working as a freelance writer, photographer, web developer and 3D artist. I spent three years as a staff writer for the Columbus Messenger Newspapers. After that I spent a decade developing database-driven web applications; since 2010 my main focus has been developing 3D scripts and plugins for 3ds Max. I'm most widely known for developing Wall Worm for 3ds Max.

When I try to describe myself, phrases like "jack-of-all-trades", "inquisitive" and "analytical" come to mind. Trying to learn something creative and new everyday is one of my little quirks... as is trying to teach something to others.

If asked what my most important characteristics are, my answer would be as follows: I am very diverse in interest and understanding, and I have a well-refined ability to bring together seemingly unconnected fields to find solutions and innovations. I am naturally skeptical, analytical and inquisitive.

My mission in life is to to learn as much as I can in the time I have; to raise warm and intelligent children; to leave something of value for this world that wasn't there before I came along.

My Professional Skills

3D Generalist

I have been dabbling in 3D since around 1998. I've built several maps for the game Counter-Strike and now focus on building levels and models for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Black Mesa. Since 2015 I've been a technical artist for the game Black Mesa. In 2016, Autodesk gave me Expert Elite status. Some of the software I've become expert in include:

3ds Max (I am a Beta Tester and Charter Member for the 3ds Max development team)

I have been photographing my entire adult life. I started on 35mm but moved to digital cameras in 2001. Over a thousand of my photos have appeared in newspapers, magazines and college textbooks. I shoot with a Canon 30D and Canon 10D.

Other Skills

Cartooning

Although I've been paid for a few cartoons, I don't consider it a professional skill as it's mainly a hobby.

Maze-Making

I've always loved drawing mazes. It's mainly just a hobby. Some mazes I've made have made their way onto apparel, live theatre promotions and even the cover of the Sandiego Reader.

Hi, Shawn. This is Crys Latham from Westland HS. I am looking for Roxanne Gilbey and was hoping that you could put her in contact w me. Our 10-yr reunion is coming up in Sept and I would like to be able to give her the information she needs.